As technology continues to advance throughout the digital age, the software application development industry progresses in a parallel way. After all, these software applications, whether for mobile, web apps, or hybrids of the 2, power everything from smartphones and computers to smart devices and everything in between.
This means that, in order to stay relevant and connected to a target demographic without falling off the radar, companies must hire agile remote developers to stay at the cutting-edge of software development.
This is where the Agile software development methodology comes into play. With the software development industry growing at such an expedited and demanding pace, there simply isn’t time, money, or resources available to stick with the traditional waterfall methodology used for years.
Hiring Guide
The waterfall model served its purpose for a long time in software development. Originating in the worlds of manufacturing and construction, it’s a simple, linear sequence of events with a fairly rigid structure. With 7 sequential, non-overlapping stages of dev, small errors have the tendency to hold up the entire process, may require another development cycle, and may even delay the release to market times.
The issue is in the fact that testing and quality assurance occurs at the very end of the development cycle. When testers find errors and bugs, they must send the software or app back to the devs for reworking, then go through the entirety of the process over again. Agile, on the other hand, aims to prevent costly delays and recoding stages with its circular model of development.
The client first communicates their vision or idea, team members gather the necessary requirements, the design team creates the overall design, then development begins. Instead of waiting until the end of the development phase to start testing, the Agile method means that testing occurs alongside development to check things in as real-time as possible. This means that when there are issues and errors, the testers simply send it back to dev to rework to cut down on wasted time and budgetary resources. Dev teams also typically work in sprints of a few weeks as well.
This method is obviously a win for everyone from the companies looking to hire an Agile coach developer or developer to the devs themselves, as it minimizes catastrophes and extra work. Over just the last year, Agile’s adoption within the software development industry increased from 37% in 2020 to an incredible 86% in 2021. This demand for Agile development methodology means that devs must have the ability to accommodate this workflow – and most devs have done so already.
Hiring for a specifically Agile developer is not really a specialty as much as a broad requirement for a developer capable of working in a fast-paced, continuously evolving development process. They should also have experience and know-how to work within a Scrum team as well being that these types of teams are typically the backbone of the Agile method.
Agile Interview Questions
What are the core principles of Agile development?
- Continuous and Early Delivery – Instead of taking lengthy amounts of time to develop an entire software product from beginning to end, the Agile methodology aims for early delivery of smaller increments of the software. This results in a continuous development cycle.
- Adaptability – While developers working in the waterfall methodology don’t really have the room to entertain changes in requirements, Agile devs embrace these changes to ensure the success of the product and the satisfaction of the client.
- Collaboration – In waterfall projects, the client is typically only involved at the beginning and end of development. Agile encourages frequent communication between clients and dev teams to help keep everyone involved on the same page at all times while hearing about new requirements, changes, or ideas in real-time.
- Simplicity – Devs working in the Agile method favor simple solutions rather than complex ones as their primary consideration is to minimize the amount of work required by the dev team.
- Communication – In addition to communicating with the client on a regular basis, the development teams make weekly (or more frequent) internal team meetings a priority so that all involved parties know the project status as well as who’s working on what.
What are a few of the typical tools used in Agile development?
Most Agile development teams prefer to use an online project management application to monitor their team’s progress. This includes popular sites such as Jira, Asana, Trello, Teamwork, and so on. For daily, real-time communication internally, many devs also choose to use professional chat programs like Slack and Skype. In the virtual working world, video conferencing software is also a must-have for both clients and dev teams alike to stay in touch on a regular basis.
What’s the typical breakdown of an Agile Scrum team?
At its most basic level, a Scrum team consists of the product owner, a Scrum Master, and the dev team, which consists of the developers, testers, admins, engineers, quality assurance professionals, and so on.
The business stakeholder takes on the responsibility of accurately relaying the project goals to the product owner who then translates these goals to the development team. The Scrum Master then ensures that the project follows the Agile and Scrum methodology while acting as the intermediary between the product owner and the dev team.
Job Description
We are looking for an experienced Agile developer to join our Agile dev team. Based on the Agile and Scrum methodologies, the right candidate will take responsibility for helping the dev team throughout the development process from requirements gathering to final release. They must have a desire to work in a fast-paced team-based environment.
Responsibilities
The Agile developer roles and responsibilities include:
- Producing high-quality code
- Performing or leading product design, systems analysis, programming planning, and activities that may require research
- Conducting practical debugging and troubleshooting in real-time
- Following Scrum and Agile best practices and processes
- Participating in design meetings, standups, client communication, demos, and sprints
Skills and Requirements
- Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science or a similar field
- 5+ years experience working in the Agile and Scrum methodologies
- Knowledge of programming languages including PHP, CSS, JavaScript, HTML, C#, etc.
- Experience with object-oriented principles for design
- Know-how of project management tools including Asana, Trello, Slack, Jira, or similar programs
